This is the palace; don't make a scene and disturb the young lady's plans.

The magpie found itself an excellent reason not to cause trouble.

The two secretly sneaked into Cixi Palace, using the potent sleeping potion prepared by Ji Fengyao to knock everyone unconscious along the way, and entered the Empress Dowager's bedroom without any hindrance.

Following Ji Fengyao's instructions, Wuhen clumsily used silver needles to prick several acupoints on the Empress Dowager's legs.

The Empress Dowager was awakened from her sleep by the stinging pain from the silver needles.

When the Empress Dowager saw two unfamiliar masked men in black standing in front of her bed, she thought she was dreaming.

She squeezed her eyelids shut several times to make sure that an assassin had indeed come to her bedchamber before she opened her mouth to scream, but a gleaming dagger was already pressed against her throat.

"Go ahead and shout. I don't know if anyone will come, but your throat will definitely be slit," Wuhen said in a deep voice.

"What do you want? Money or power?" The Empress Dowager tried to remain calm, but still held considerable authority.

"Hmph, you think everyone covets your money and power?" Magpie had long disliked this old hag, and slapped her face twice hard: "Tell me, where did you put all the money!"

Wuhen: "..."

Empress Dowager: "..."

What happened to your statement that you don't care about other people's money and power?

Despite the pain in his face, Wuhen still obediently pushed the dagger forward after his wife spoke.

The Empress Dowager felt a sharp pain in her throat and a warm flow into her collar, realizing that her neck was already bleeding. Startled, she quickly and tremblingly raised her hand and pointed to the luxurious mahogany wardrobe next to her.

The magpie strode to the wardrobe, opened the door, and saw rows of large and small boxes inside, filled with gold, silver and jade ornaments, farmland and land—all kinds of goods.

Pushing open the window and pretending that there were accomplices waiting outside, Xique "threw" all the items out one by one.

In fact, she put everything into her storage ring as soon as she sold it.

The Empress Dowager's eyesight was already failing, and it was the dead of night in the dead of winter. With Wuhen holding a dagger to her, she couldn't see Xique's subtle movements clearly. She assumed there were many accomplices outside and was too frightened to make a sound or move, her heart filled with terror.

So many villains have managed to infiltrate the inner palace! What are the Imperial Guards doing?!

Or perhaps, these people already had spies within the palace...

It's terrifying to think about!

After clearing out all the boxes, big and small, from the wardrobe, Xique casually muttered, "The Empress Dowager of a great nation has so little savings, not even as much as a local corrupt official."

The Empress Dowager was too terrified and deep in thought to hear clearly, but Wuhen suddenly understood.

He reached out and pressed the Empress Dowager's pressure point to immobilize her, then walked to the wardrobe and whispered, "Let me take a look."

The Empress Dowager finally came to her senses and, upon hearing Wuhen's words, despair filled her eyes.

Wuhen felt around every corner of the large wardrobe. When he found a phoenix relief decoration, he pressed it in hard, and sure enough, a slight rattling sound of a mechanism turning came from behind the wardrobe.

Soon, the two shelves in the center of the wardrobe slid apart to the left and right, revealing a dark secret passage behind them.

"Wow, you're so smart!" The magpie's eyes lit up, and she praised Wuhen with great joy.

Wuhen was overjoyed and took the opportunity to step forward and hold Xique's hand, saying in a telepathic voice, "Xique, no matter how many things are in here, they are all yours; if you can't take them all, I will take them all."